Senior nurses will now spend more time training their younger colleagues, in a plan to coax more nurses to stay in Nova Scotia.

About $2.6 million will be pumped into the plan, a partnership between the province, the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union, Health Canada and the Canadian Federation of Nurses.

The plan involves testing an 80-20 staffing model. Participating late-career nurses will spend 80 per cent of their time in direct patient care, with 20 per cent dedicated to professional development and mentoring new graduates.

The Nova Scotia project is part of a larger, national strategy called Research to Action: Applied Workplace Solutions for Nurses. The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions got a $4.2 million federal grant to work with partners on out-of-the-box improvements to the workplace environment.